back to that reading journal style...

Spent time in three different books yesterday. Unfortunately the book I spent the most time with, a book I've been slowly working on for the past couple weeks, was India: A History by John Keay. And I've decided to abandon it. Not because I think it's a "bad" book. It's just not what I was hoping for. I picked it up because we're currently focusing on ancient Indian civilizations in our world history class. It's not that the writing was incomprehensible, even for someone as ignorant as I about the subject, but it was a bit dense for our purposes. And it does assume a knowledge base broader than what either Annie or I have going in, so I was finding myself needing to go look things up fairly regularly just to understand what he was talking about. We're using a lecture series and textbook already, and I was hoping for something a bit more "fun" as supplemental material. This just doesn't fit the bill.

After I have a bit more background on the history of the Indian subcontinent, I may just go pick this book back up. Then again, with so many books I'm dying to read, it may just languish on the shelves indefinitely. Far too many books do that around here.

*****

One of the good things about deciding to abandon India was that I finally picked up Empires of the Indus by Alice Albania. I'd read the preface in the bookstore the day I bought it, so I was able to dive right in with chapter 1. And YES!!! *This* is the book I was looking for! Written in a down-to-earth, almost conversational style. Yet so chock-full of information. I'm ashamed to admit how pitifully little knowledge I have about the history of this area of the world. But in one chapter alone, I feel I've learned so much. While I haven't read far enough to know for sure, I believe that she's going to be talking about history in a non-chronological fashion as she travels the river.  She has history intertwined with the real lives of people today. For example, in the first chapter, she talks about the lives of sewer cleaners in Karachi and manages to turn it into a brief history of the Partition. It was fascinating and heartbreaking all at the same time. And as this part of the region's history is still so recent, she was able to find and share the stories of people who had actually lived it.

A line that may forever haunt me: "She ministered to the semi-dead--the refugees who arrived without clothes, without food, without limbs..."

*****

And finally, we all gathered together for another round of Half-Minute Horrors. This book is just so fun! I have to admit that I was afraid it was going to be "too tame." But it definitely is not!!! In fact, a few of the stories have left me with crossed fingers that I'm not going to be woken up during the night with little boys' nightmares. Last night's favorites included "Death Rides a Pink Bicycle" by Stacey Godenir (an author I'm not at all familiar with) and "Inventory" by Jonathan Lethem (funny in a gruesome sort of way) and "I'm Not Afraid" by Dan Gutman (which we all loved, though it was particularly relevant for Gray :D ).

Our next round will be our last, as there's only three stories left. I'll be so sad to have it come to an end...we've been stretching it out as best we could. But you know, I think it might just be the kind of book we could pull out each year and enjoy all over again. Not sure if we'll start another "whole family" book for Halloween after we finish this one or not...but I'm kinda thinking it would be mighty fun to read Bradbury's The Halloween Tree aloud...

one done, one abandoned

Finished the last 101 pages of Cross Country last night. Best book ever? Uhh, no. But did I enjoy it? Yep.

And I'm sad to say that I'm abandoning Recycle This Book. I really shouldn't, but I am. I *love* the concept of this book immensely. And honestly, for the most part, I love the little essays, which are for the most part written with great humor. But already I've come across two that have irritated the hell out of me. First, advocating reusing the bottles you buy bottled water in. NOOOOO!!! Please don't tell kiddos to do that!!!! They leach dangerous chemicals like BPA. DON"T BUY BOTTLED WATER TO START WITH!!! Instead use reusable, BPA-free water bottles filled from your tap. Second, the article saying while there is nothing we can do about the methane released when moose belch and cows fart, there are things we as humans can do to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. Uhhhh, gee, actually there is a lot we can do about cows!!! EAT LESS MEAT!!! Look, I don't mean for a second to tell anyone that they should be a vegetarian--that is a personal choice that everyone has to make for themselves. But I am saying that one of the most important environmental choices we can make is to eat less meat. And learn where our food does come from. The way this particular article was written, the blame for the environmental harm done by "cows" was taken completely away from humans and the way we've allowed factory farming to take over our food supply. So, yes, I'm giving up on the book...because I let it put me in a pissy mood. What can I say...

sick days

Seems like one ought to be able to get more read when one is sick. But that damn malaise just goes and ruins everything. What little I did get read, I had to *force* myself to do. 

Finished up the last 140 pages of The Storm in the Barn this morning. Overall, I would have to say I loved this book. I thought the art was gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. Soft, yet expressive. Beautiful, and meaningful, use of color. And I loved the setting--the Dust Bowl. I loved the point of view--life in the Dust Bowl for a young boy. The images and the events of this time are haunting. And they're very, very real. I have just one complaint--I felt the fantastical element of the story was too rushed. It was like there was all this beautiful, well-thought-out background...and then all of sudden we have this super rushed climax. Still, even that, while disappointing, doesn't stop me from loving the book.

Eight pages in Household Tales was all I'd managed. "Aschenputtel" to be specific. My brain just wasn't up for the whole jotting down discussion points and whatnot that come along with reading for school.

Read another 27 pages in Never Tell Him You're Alone. But decided it just wasn't worth my time, so off to the bags for the library sale it went. Sort of proud of myself...I have a hard time setting a book aside with no intention of ever picking it up again. I used to be much worse about it though.

So instead I picked up another thriller to take its place--you know, 'cause I didn't have enough other books started. (I'm hopeless!) I've read the first 214 pages of Cross Country by James Patterson. An Alex Cross novel. For me, this series has gone downhill from what the books used to be. Yet I can't stop reading them. I can't quite explain it, but they fill a specific sort of reading mood--when I want something fast-paced and something that doesn't require a lot of "down time" amidst my reading for thinking about the book. I know there are people who find thrillers "trash," but I find them enjoyable. And what do I care about the opinions of people who feel the need to look down their noses at other people's reading choices anyway, right? :P

And I finished the last 179 pages of Junk Beautiful. Favorite room--the kitchen redo!!! So very much my style--or at least the style I wish I could pull off! :)  And red--just like my kitchen. Of course, their kitchen is about four times the size of ours, and they have a separate dining room while our tiny kitchen has to pull double duty. So, yeah, no matter what I do, our kitchen is *never* going to compare to that one. Anyway, a very fun book.